When someone tells me I can’t do something, it makes me want to do it even more. When my parents said I couldn’t wear makeup, I had a stash under my bed. When I put my name in for a promotion back when I worked a corporate job and people told me I wouldn’t get it, guess what? I did.
I love a good challenge.
Challenges have shaped my daily life in a profound way. When I challenge myself I’m just doing an experiment. Will this work for me or not?
Some challenges I have done:
Fasting
Taking a break from alcohol
Plank challenge
5K challenge
No makeup challenge
No spend challenge
Every single one taught me a lesson.
The hardest lesson by far was taking a break from alcohol. I learned that I had become very attached to my glass of wine after work. I learned just how crazy my brain could go when I changed my daily routine and drank a carbonated water after work instead of wine. My brain lost it’s shit! I quit so many times on myself with this challenge that it sent me into a spiral of self-loathing. This was a clear indication that I was no longer in control of my drinking.
I realized that a drastic change was needed. I made the change. I grew as a person, became a better parent and wife. If I had not done this challenge, I would never have known what a big impact a glass of wine was making in my life.
Another challenge I did was giving up sugar. Boy was that hard! I was used to my sugary coffee in the morning. I loved making cookies and brownies and eating them fresh out of the oven. I tried sugar substitutes, but they never quite cut it for me. The first thing I had to do was get used to drinking my coffee black. It took about 4 days to get used to it. Now I can’t imagine drinking my coffee sweet.
I love how much I learn about myself when I challenge myself. It’s how I figure out what is working and what is not.
Today I am challenging myself to a 4-minute arm hang with a 10 burpee penalty for each time I let go. I will leave the clock running and see just how long over-all the whole ordeal will take me. I think my takeaway will be that I have very poor upper body strength and that is something I will need to work on. Just how poor remains to be seen.
On to my next challenge!
